


The Outlaws of Lucis

by PineChild, Sashinia2000



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Dorks in Love, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Smoking, lots of swearing, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-03-02 21:54:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13327128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineChild/pseuds/PineChild, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashinia2000/pseuds/Sashinia2000
Summary: A special band of misfits named 'The Outlaws' are one of Lucis most sought after hunters. Their technique, skill, and love for one another makes their skill surpass everyone else, and with their recent mission merging with the prince and his entourage, they're getting more that what they bargained for.





	1. Meet the Crew

 

 

_“_ _ I wanna be your baby,_

 

_    Your angel all in black, _

 

Your _little blue eye gy-”_

 

 

 

“What the _fuck_ Angela?” All attention goes to the woman in the passengers side, stoicallyreading a passage of poetry. Her icy blue eyes land upon the heavily scarred, magenta hairedgunslinger in the back at the mention of her name, who was currently spreading his limbs as farout as physically possible.

 

 

“Cayden, we’ve been listening to this song for an _hour_ now.” Her voice almost monotone whileshe looks at Cayden, adjusting her glasses. Cayden whines and sinks down more into the allred leather interior.

 

 

“You’re no fun! Jessie, c’mon man help me out here!” He flails his arm to the muscular mandriving. The man that we know as Jessie, looks in the rear-view mirror to find Cayden’scornflower blue eyes stare into his teal ones. He grunts indifferently to the situation at handbefore looking at his side view mirror.

 

“Maybe you want to consult Lillith about this, she can probably hear the music all the way fromhere.” He casually points his thumb to the back of the car, where he points out to the smallerwoman on the motorcycle following them. Cayden huffs and lazily gets up from the seat andturns to see Lillith riding behind them as usual, he violently flails his arms in the air trying to gether attention. It ultimately works as the rumble of her motorcycle becomes louder as sheapproaches the teams’ car.

 

She swerves to the side to face Cayden and lifts the protective shield of her helmet to talk, partsof her ginger hair sticking out, “What do you want Cayden?” Her thick accent still audible overthe rumbling of the two vehicles beside each other.

 

He plasters a shit eating grin to her and dramatically leans forward, limbs dangling over theedge of the car, “What do you think of the song that’s been playing so far?”

 

From what he can see, she squints at him, annoyed as ever. “You’ve been playing the same _ goddamn _ song for an hour straight. You don’t think I noticed it by now?”

 

“Told you.” Angela says, eyes never leaving the page. Jessie chuckles into his hand andCayden slumps into his seat and pouts, twirling a piece of his faded ends.

 

 Lillith rolls her eyes and puts the protective cover back on before revving up to Angela’s side,she takes a quick glance at the cyclist next to her before putting a bookmark on the page, “Sowhat’s the plan of action here?” Lillith leans over to Angela, her helmet muffling her voice.

 

Angela turns to Jessie for any input, which he picks up on the queue and shouts back to Lillith,“We’re probably gonna head to Old Lestallum to fill up Miss Donatella here and rest for the nightbefore going to hunter’s headquarters.” He affectionately pats the car as he calls her by name,Lillith nods to him before slowing down to follow them from behind again.

 

Cayden, now laying upside down, kicking his feet in the air asks, ”So what does Dave want from us  _this_ time?” Angela, eyes still glued to her book responds.

 

“We don’t know yet, hence why we’re driving there.” He rolls his eyes at her deadpanned snarkycomment and fidgets with his hair more.

 

 “Ha. Ha. Very funny. But seriously, isn’t it kind of a big deal for headquarters to call us?Especially at a time like this?” Jessie hums in acknowledgement before tucking in a black strandof hair under his ear.

 

 “Sounds like we’re going to be doing some heavy duty work from what I can tell when Dave wastalking. Probably something really important.” It was Cayden’s turn to hum in acknowledgementas he shifted into a more comfortable pose.

 

“We better get a ton of gil from this.” He mumbles, earning a chuckle from Jessie. The misfitsnow ride in a comfortable silence, only hearing Angela sip on her coffee every once in awhile.Cleigne now riddled with the colors of orange, pink, and purple as the sun began to set. Thearray of colors blended together so effortlessly in a beautiful dance.

 

Entranced by the beauty, Cayden looks over the edge of the car and sighs dreamily as hischeek rests on his gloved palm. “I wish I could take a picture of this.” Angela looks up from herbook and brushes away her brown locks to see the sky unfold, gazing at this beauty was ablessing to have.

 

“Then why don’t you?” She softly asks, “You could’ve gotten that camera at the Chocobo Post.”

 

Still looking on at the landscape, Cayden softly shakes his head and chuckles to himself, “I’mnot a good photographer, all the pictures I’ve ever taken where blurry or just, really awkward. Iwould want a professional photographer to take them.” She hums in agreement, eyes still gluedto the sunset.

 

“Maybe we’ll find one.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 The sky already turned pitch black when they reached Old Lestallum and Donatella was justabout run out of gas, thankfully none of the crew had to push her to the gas pump like last time.Cayden jumped out of the car as fast as he could, stretching out his limbs in an almostridiculous fashion.

 

“Fiiiinally we’re here! I thought we were gonna have to do a night driving sesh again! I couldhear those demons groaning nearer and nearer to us.” He dramatically shuttered earning aclassic eye roll from Angela as she quietly shuts the car door.

 

“Well with that out of the way, what are our dinner plans for tonight? Should we eat at the dineror are you going to make something for us, Jessie?” She turns over to the man at the pump, hisface slightly surprised that he’s being talked to. He looks over to Angela and shrugs beforelooking onto Lillith on another pump fueling her bike.

 

She takes off her helmet, revealing an angled ginger bob and a beautiful face carved with sharpfeatures. She puts her helmet onto her hip before looking back at him, her face scrunches inannoyance. “I’m not in the mood and I’m too fuckin’ tierd to cook. Greasy diner food is your bestbet.”

 

Angela nods to her, fully understanding her tired state. “Diner it is then.” Cayden loudly whoopedand hollered, his arms sticking straight in the air.

 

“Clogged arteries here I COME!”

 

Cayden runs over to the Crow’s Nest at almost breakneck speed while the rest of the crew trailbehind him, wondering how the _fuck_ he’s still so energetic. Once inside Cayden opts for thestools in the diner and plops on. They all order the same heaping amount of greasy fries and aburger that was one calorie away from a heart attack.

 

With Cayden almost choking on a fry and Lillith giving him the heimlich two different times,dinner ended up to be pretty nice. They soon exit the diner leaving a hefty tip (courtesy ofCayden) and head for the motel across the street. Once they pay and enter their room for thenight, Cayden nosedives onto the bed, making the mattress squeak under him. Angela followssuit in a more gentler way while Jessie heads towards the bathroom for a shower. Lillith reststhe luggage in a corner before shuffling to the door.

 

 “Where you goin’?” Cayden asks, trying to look over his chest.

 

 “Out for a smoke.” She states, shaking the box of cigarettes in her hand. He grunts inacknowledgement before resting his head down again.

 

 Before he can hear the click of the door closing, he mumbles to himself, loud enough for Angelato hear. “I wish she’d stopped smoking.” Angela hums, agreeing with his statement as shebegins to read the last few pages of her book.

 

 “Give her time Cayden, I’m sure she’ll find a way to quit soon.” Her words were soft andreassuring to him, soothing his nerves. He softly smiles to himself.

 

Back outside, clouds of smoke surround Lillith as the nicotine surges through her veins. Herbreathing becomes much calmer, just taking that little edge off. A small tingling grows at the pitof her stomach as her gunmetal blue eyes stare up at the night sky riddled with stars. She leanson the rusty balcony before taking another drag, something in the back of her mind is telling hersomething - that something good is gonna happen. The thing this, she doesn’t know what andit’s driving her up the fucking wall.

 

 Another cloud of smoke leaves her wine colored lips before she snuffs the butt onto her glovedhand. It’s probably nothing, just fate playing one of it’s sick games on her again. She huffs inannoyance before flicking the butt of the cigarette perfectly into the trash can next to her. Herhand brushes against the handle before pulling it down and hearing Cayden loudly sing anexcerpt of the Piña Colada song, especially the verse of,‘IFYOULIKEMAKINGLOVEATMID _NIGHT_ ’ which he promptly accentuates at the end.

 

Jessie, now in his pajamas, look over to Lillith in the doorway. “Welcome back.” He playfullysmiles to her, leading her to playfully roll her eyes back at him while shedding off her leatherjacket and boots. Now with her inked skin exposed, Lillith walks over to the shared bed withAngela. She scoots over and lets her flop onto the bed, a groan escapes from under her.

 

It didn't take long for Cayden to get tired of singing and hop out of the shower. Once the doorbursts open with his foot stuck in the air, Angela looks over to Lillith whose face is still plantedon the bed.

 

 Before she could say anything Lillith didn’t waste a single breath, “Go for it.” Her voice heavilymuffled by the comforter. Angela looks at her with a soft smile before heading towards thebathroom. She was in and out in twenty minutes, lightly tapping on Lillith’s inked shoulder givingher a signal that the bathroom was all hers. She groaned while getting up and trudged to thebasically almost trashed bathroom (thanks Cayden).

 

She stands and soaks in the warm water for minute before scrubbing all her makeup off,watching little streaks of black go down the drain as she rubs the red lipstick off with her hand.Soon after she emerges from the shower and does her basic nighttime routine before putting onher sleep wear and sinks into the bed.

 

The feeling in her stomach still hasn’t gone away leaving her annoyed and somewhat distraught as she stares up at the now dark ceiling. She  _will_ get to the bottom of this, even if it kills her.

 

Even with those thoughts swimming in her head, she eventually is lulled asleep by the softsnores of her friends. Maybe she’ll figure it out tomorrow.

 

Maybe.                               


	2. Wild Goose Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is a little bit of a longer chapter I hope none of you mind! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys like it too! Gaelic translations will be at the end. Enjoy~

The soft glow of the sun peeking through the curtains lit up the shabby motel room, Jessie’s

hulking figure was the first one to stir Angela following suit.

He stretched his arms over his head, letting out a tiered groan. He looked over to Angela, who’sbed head has become a rats nest. A low rumble emitted from his chest as he chuckled out loud.

 

“Nice bed-head Angie”

She squinted at him while putting on her glasses. “Not a word.” He threw his hands up in mocksurrender as he got up from the bed, letting a wildly sprawled out Cayden take up last of thespace. A comfortable silence was shared between them, nothing but the sound of Angelabrushing her hair and the shuffling of clothes from Jessie filled the air.

Once out of his sleep clothes, he looks at Angela again. “You need me to get that special coffeeagain?”

“If you please.” She continues combing her ratted locks, looking into the wall mirror. Jessieplayfully shakes his head before tying the rest of his hair into a ponytail.

“Your coffee basically takes up most of our budget, you know” He light-heartedly jokes, handson his hips. She returns the playful gesture by giving her best smirk.

“But you love me anyways.” He chuckles before nodding his head, admittedly agreeing to it. Hewalks over to the door to put on his boots, looking over his shoulder he sees Angela brushingthe last piece of her knotted up hair. He softly smiles to himself before talking to her again.

“When your done make sure to wake those two up, we don’t wanna be late this time.” Angelahums to him and gives a slight nod. He turns to the door once more and waves his hand to herbefore hearing the door click softly.

She turns to the two sleeping bodies, one of them having their ass propped up in the airshowing the words ‘Are You Nasty?’ out in the open. She sighs and looks over to the inked,ginger woman currently sleeping in the free-falling position. Angela leans her body to shakeLillith’s shoulder.

“Dùisg*.” Angela’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper. Lillith stirs before grumbling andslowly opening her eyes. Her small frame now rising from the squeaky bed. She looks over toAngela, who softly smiles to her. “Good morning.”

“Madainn mhath*.” She sleepily mumbles, stretching her arms and popping any air pockets in hershoulders. Angela gets up from the bed and changes out of her night shirt, courtesy of Jessie ofcourse. Lillith sheds out of her sleeping shorts and puts on her black jeans, riddled with cigaretteburns and large rips at the upper thigh (which were totally intentional).

 

Angela slips on her fingerless gloves as Lillith pads over to the door. “M goin’ out for a smoke”she grumbles retrieving her lighter and pack from her jacket pocket.

“Don’t take too long, Jessie’s coming back with my coffee.” She calls out to her. Lillith grunts andcloses the door behind her. Angela methodically puts her uniform on the bed, making sureeverything was is place and to her liking.

Caydens loud snore snaps her out of her trance as she whips her head to look at his incrediblyuncomfortable sleeping position and a slight pool of drool forms underneath his chin. Sheshutters and pads over to him. Her fingers land on his hip, lightly pushing it for him to naturallysway.

“Cayden, wake up,“ He stirs a little, but still unresponsive. ”Cayden wake u-“ His foot kicks herside, just a little under her ribs. Pain surges through her body as she wheezes and clutches herside, a curse slipping out between her teeth. His snores still fill the air above her, his foot nowdangling from the side.

She sighs defeatedly while resting her forehead on the side frame. Shortly after, the door clickedopen to reveal Lillith and Jessie, both now looking at her incredulously. With the coffee packet inhand, Jessie raises a brow to her.

“You alright?” He hovers over her, concern and confusion written all over his face. She slowlyrises from the ground and waves him off.

“I’m fine, Cayden just kicked me when I tried to wake him up.” Lillith snorts, with her now glovedhand covering her mouth. Jessie lightly elbows her and gives her a look.

“I’ll wake him up, you just get your coffee goin’ and take it easy alright?” Angela nods and zipstowards the coffee maker at an almost inhuman speed. She presses every single button on thecoffee maker customizing everything perfectly. Lillith lightly nudges her arm to make her look atthe scene behind her.

She turns to see Jessie doing what looks like a dance with Caydens still sleeping body as hislimbs attach onto Jessie’s arms and torso. She a raises a brow to him as he tries to detanglehimself with a straight face.

 

While Jessie wrestles with Cayden to wake up, Angela puts on her uniform and Lillith keeps hereye on the timer on the coffee maker. Jessie eventually gives up and leaves him alone as hewipes a drop of sweat from his forehead.

Cayden soon wakes up to the smell of coffee wafting the air, humming at it’s delightful smell. Ashe opens his eyes he finds a disheveled Jessie, a disgruntled Angela, and a smirking Lillith. He raises his brow and turns to the oddly sweaty man.

 

“What happened?” He asked, his voice feeling a bit small. For some reason he feels guilty aboutsomething that he might’ve done while he was asleep. Angela turns to him, coffee mug in hand.

“When I was trying to wake you up you kicked my side.” Her response was so nonchalant fortalking about something so painful. Lillith snickered at him while Jessie poked out a smallamused smile. Cayden’s face flushed with embarrassment.

“S-Shit Ange, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s alright Cayden, your lucky enough I got my coffee on time. Or I would’ve slaughtered youwhere you stood.” She smirks to him before taking another sip. This was a sign of forgivenessand a threat at the same time, which he would gladly take any day than seeing a fuming Angela.

Because once you see a fuming talented swordswoman coming your way, you better make yourlast breath count.

The feeling of relief washed over him as he has seen to live another day. “Yes ma’am,” Heplayfully saluted to her, earning a snort and an eye roll. “Welp! Time to get dressed.” Hedramatically slapped the bed before getting up.

 “Fix your hair first, you look like cotton candy on crack.” Lillith quips, pointing to the side of hishead that isn’t shaved. Jessie snickers while Cayden reluctantly took the brush on thenightstand.

It didn’t take long for the group to change into their gear and to be ready for a possible huntwhen going to headquarters.

“Alright, is everyone ready?” Jessie asks, placing his hands on his hips. Cayden looks over toLillith, who’s still barefaced.

“Oop! We still have to wait for Lil to powder her nose.” He smirks, earning a middle finger fromher.

 Surprisingly Lillith doesn’t take long when it comes to putting on makeup, just a little bit ofeyeliner, lipstick, and face paint and she’s set. With that swiftly out of the way, they leave thecheap motel room and return the keys before heading towards their respective vehicles.

Lillith puts her helmet on and revs the engine to signal that she’s ready. Jessie gives her athumbs up before swerving off into the road. Cayden sighs and dramatically sinks into the seatonce again.

“On the road again huh? How long is _this_ trip gonna take?” There was a slight pause betweenall of them before Angela answers, adjusting her glasses.

 

“About two and a half hours.” Cayden groans, childishly flinging his arms in the air.

“Hey, at least it isn’t a 5 hour drive like it was from the chocobo post.” Jessie smirks as he looksat Cayden’s defeated form in the rearview. He huffs and closes his eyes, listening to the distantrumble of Lillith’s motorcycle and the quiet hum of the radio.

_ “ We are just a week away from the wonderful royal wedding of Prince Noctis and Princess _ _ Lunafreya! Locals in Altissia are waiting with bated breath to see the Oracle’s wedding dress up _ _ for public view just days before the big event!” _

“The Prince, huh?” Cayden wondered aloud, “I wonder what he’s like.” Jessie hums, a lowrumble emits from his throat.

“From what I’ve heard, he’s a child at heart and...not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Caydensnorts and Angela raises a brow, “But then again that’s all just rumors so.” He shrugs, glancingover to Angela.

Cayden hums, “....Wonder if he’s cute.” Jessie laughs and Angela turns to him unamused.

“Cayden he’s getting married a _week_ from now.” He waves his hands dismissively with a playfulsmirk.

“Homewreckin’s my game, baby.” Angela rolls her eyes again before checking on Lillith in theside mirror. Jessie scoffs, almost not believing the words that came out of the gunslingersmouth.

“Since _ when _ _?_ ” Cayden’s eyes snap open and he gets up in defense.

“Since _always_ ,  man.” He clutches his chest in mock offense as Jessie comically shook his head.

“Last time I remember when you saw a cute boy, you accidentally squirted lemon juice in youreye while trying to show him a party trick.”

He loudly laughs at the memory of Cayden trying to pick up a guy in bar after one of their hunts.Cayden was for sure gonna woo him by showing him a party trick involving a lemon wedge,which ultimately left him clutching his burning eye while the guy was panicking to get the bartender over to them. He also remembers Lillith wheezing on the floor and Angela trying herdamnedest not to laugh.

Cayden’s face flushed to a berry pink, “W-Whatever man! Just keep driving!” He sinks down intothe seat again, clearly sulking.

 

The remainder of the ride was mostly spent in a peaceful silence, occasionally hearing Caydenmaking odd noises to keep himself entertained. It was almost past noon when they drive up tothe headquarters with the sun mercilessly beating down.

Once at the base they hop out of the car and say their pleasantries to the rest of the huntersthere. They finally find Dave sitting on one of the shops porches scratching his dogs ears.Cayden waves over to him which ultimately grabs his attention.

 

“Well well, glad you made it. How are y’all fairin’?” Dave looks over to Angela, seeing as she isthe group’s leader. She tiredly sighs and crosses her arms.

“We’re managing. What’s the mission that you summoned us for? Sounds like we’re doing someheavy duty work.” She adjusts her glasses to remove the flare, contently looking at the HeadHunter.

Dave smiles at her and rubs the side of his neck, almost nervously. His tanned skin littered withfaded scars and ink, ”Well y’see there seems to be trouble around Galdin Quay that’s getting outof hand, even with the local hunters there. Many say they can’t keep up with their numbers andare losing a lot of men because of it.” A solemn frown falls onto his face, wrinkles etched fromcountless battles tell their story on his worn features.

Angela sucks in a breath and her voice becomes more quiet and soothing, “We’ll do the best wecan Dave. Any time we should be heading down there?” She tilts her head inquisitively.

“I’d reckon you’d stay for a little an’ rest up before goin’ since it’s quite the drive an’ all. Havey’all eaten yet?”

Before she could answer, Cayden’s stomach loudly grumbled and all eyes went to him as hewas at eye level with Dave’s dog. A small chuckle leaves Dave as he happily looked down atthe two.

“Well that answers my question. Why don’t y’all go over to Cotton Alley and get yourself somegrub? I’m sure Ezma will take good care of ya.” The group nodded whilst Cayden springs upfrom petting the dog and stretching his limbs out once more.

“Woohoo! Food! I’m staaaaarving!” He practically skips over in the direction of the dinner,happily humming to himself with arms swaying childishly.

Jessie snorts and nods to him, “You can say that again.” Both of the girls nod at his statementand went to follow the overzealous gunslinger.

As Dave watches their forms slowly fade away as the dust kicks in, his thoughts still flood his

mind with all the details of the mission. An inkling of doubt came over him, as if feelingsomething wasn’t right that kept growing in the pit of his stomach. As if something wasn’t said.He thought out loud to himself.

“What am I forgetting to tell them?”

The group of misfits found their way to Cotton Alley, discussing what’s on the menu before beingshoved with heaps of food (courtesy of Ezma). Cayden piggishly digs in, food stains alreadypainted on his face. He looks over to the rest of the group. “So how long is it from here to GaldinQuay?” He asks, food still in his mouth.

Angela, unfazed by his ridiculous eating habit, takes a swig from her thermos before answeringhim, “Approximately eight hours.” He loudly groans and slouches in his seat.

 

“Are you _fucking_ kidding me?” He lulls his head over to the window dramatically, “Well looks likeanother round of night driving, you ready for it Lillith?” He turns to the silent woman across him,her fingers lightly drumming on the table.

“I’ll survive. There’s nothing I can’t handle, you know that.” She says nonchalantly, looking at him while he puts and an  ungodly  amount of salt onto his food. Angela looks at the plate with pure disgust before sighing and rubbing her temples. It’s gonna be a  very  long night.

* * *

  


It was around four when they packed their essentials and refueled the vehicles. Everyone hadvarying degrees of displeasure, knowing about the eight hour drive. Cayden grumbles to himselfabout how this was “bullshit” and “the pay better be fucking worth it”.

Both Jessie and Angela sigh to each other, agreeing with Cayden but ultimately not wanting tofuel the fire. Jessie revs miss Donatella up and waits for Lillith’s signal.

Hearing the hard rumble of her motorcycles engine, the car takes off, dust flying off the tires.The sun was no longer high in the sky, but now a mere soft glow of oranges and reds thatbathes the landscape below. It was a familiar scene they all knew too well, but still silently take amoment to gaze on it’s beauty.

As the sun sinks down, cooler air surrounds the group. Giving them a lick of serenity afterdealing with the harsh rays. Everything was silent, comfortably so as the scenery changes rightbefore their eyes.

 

* * *

 

The time was near around 10 as they pass Scheir Hieghts. Stars dotted all over the night skywith crystal clear constellations of the Astrals that watch below. It was almost a picture perfectscene, as if nothing could rip them away from this tranquility.

Cayden watches the stars in the backseat, eyes full of wonder. He breathes in the cool air andfill his lungs with the feeling of adrenaline. “You know, for it being this late, I’m surprised that wehaven’t encountered a deamon yet.” However, those words were about to change as theground shook violently, making cracks in the road as a terrifying scream pierces the air.

“You just _had_ to say it, didn’t you?” Angela turns to him, deadpanning her words. Her eyes focuson the giant deamon that was approaching Lillith at breakneck speed. A gasp escapes her andcatches both Cayden and Jessie’s attention. Cayden’s baby blue eyes shrink as the hellishcreature tries to swipe Lillith off of her bike.

The motorist irritably groans at her situation and revs her engine before speeding up. But to hermisfortune, the creature quickly catches up as it now uses all fours. Her hands grip on to herchain weapon, waiting for the right distance to throw. As Lillith plays the waiting game, Angelasits in her seat thinking of the perfect plan in this situation as Cayden in the back watches Lillithclosely, waiting for any signal as his hands ghost over the dual pistols on his hips.

The deamon’s yellowed and gnarly teeth almost hover over the cyclist, it’s breath smelling likedeath and decay as it envelops her. She whips her head towards it and throws the chain overit’s scaly snout. With all her strength she’s able to close it shut, with a grunt she yanks thechain towards a grove of trees, sending the body to fly over as she retracts her weapon. Thesheer force of it makes her swerve violently nearly missing the road.

A thunderous rumble can be felt as the trees fall with their roots exposed with an armouredbody on top of it. However it’s sights were still on Lillith as it slashes its way towards her with it’sebony claws that were as dark as the night. Lillith mutters an incantation under breath as greenlight manifests around her gloved hands. With eyes still locking onto the road, she raises one ofher arms towards a conglomerate bunch of boulders up ahead, her knuckles bend an throwsher arm up in the air, the boulders now following.

With a glance over her shoulder, still seeing the beast gaining on her, her arm snaps in thedeamon’s direction. The heavy rocks shoot across the starry sky and crash on the beast’s body,knocking it down and making the earth shake once more. She speeds up to the rest of her teamas she was trailing behind. When she came closer to the car, the shrill screech of the monstermade itself known once again.

Lillith grips on her handles incredibly tight and out of fury, “Son of a  BITCH.” 

 

In her rearviewmirror she can see the deamon catching up to her, face bloodied and slanted orange eyes filledwith rage. Angela openly waves her arms to her in big motions, urging her to come closer.

 

Seems like she’s got a plan. Lillith zips over to her side, nearly missing the razor sharp clawaimed toward her.As she came face to face with Angela, her words were simple.

 

“I need you to throw me.”

 

The sheer simple command takes Lillith back for a second, but she knew that it wasn’t the timeto question her motives and just simply trust her. The motorist nods and green light radiates herhands again as she lifts up her friend in the air. Angela gives her a confident look and a nod,signaling to throw her.

Before the witch launches her comrade and approach the battered beast, she couldn’t help butto notice something strapped on her belt. A grenade. As Angela soars through the air, sheunsheathes her katana that lies on her hip, the sword brightly gleaming as the moon’s raysshine down on it. Shortly she roughly lands on the deamon’s snout, clinging onto the deep redscales. When she finds her footing, she leaps to its eyes, her blade slicing the film and cornea

altogether, completely blinding it.

An agonizing cry emitted from the beast, now feverishly shaking its head in utter agony. Stillstanding her ground, Angela jumps to the best of her ability onto its neck trying to find the softspot between the scales and the tough armor. Feeling with the bottom of her shoe, sheeventually finds it. Her hands grip on the sword tighter as she slashes the soft, fatty skin,earning from another hellish scream from the deamon.

She digs the soles of her feet onto its neck before stabbing the wound and twisting it, creating alarger and deeper cut. Angela stands her ground as the deamon violently thrashes its body toshake her off. She pulls her katana out from the wound, now covered in a slick black sludgethat’s supposedly the monster’s blood. Quickly, she hops off it’s neck and holds onto the scaleson the crown of its head until it was done thrashing, not feeling her boots weigh on their neck.

When they finally stop, she jumps once again to the snout and cuts open the skin, splitting thescales in fragments before jumping off the beast and into the open air.

Mid way from her descent of falling, she grabs onto the grenade on her belt and threw it as faras she can. She twists her body, still in midair, yelling to Cayden.

“Now!”

Cayden quickly picks the signal and takes one of his pistols from the holster, steadying thebubblegum pink gun in his hands before firing the shot. The bullet directly hits the grenadewhich explodes with incredible force, blowing up right in the deamons face. The after wave ofthe explosion sends Angela’s soaring through the air even faster than before. Lillith managed tocatch her in the air before she strayed off course, green light surrounding her body as shegently places her body in the backseat with Cayden.

He speedily put his gun back in the holster before grabbing onto Angela’s gloved hands, lightlysqueezing them and thanking the Astrals that she’s ok. They look back at the corpse behind them as it slowly dissolves into nothingness the farther they get from it. Cayden shaikly laughs,turning his head to Jessie who was driving throughout the whole ordeal.

“Doin’ okay big guy?” Jessie’s eyes gloss over to them, he rigidly nods to them and gets back todriving as if nothing happened.

He was scared shitless.

* * *

It was midnight when they arrived at Galdin Quay. The smell of sea salt, gentle sea breeze, andthe soft glow of the restaurant at the docks almost seemed to melt away the experience thathappened only two hours ago. Every single one of the Outlaws let out a sigh of relief as theyfinally arrive at their destination, tired beyond belief.

 

“I’m goin’ to be smokin’ a whole pack tonight and none of ya are stoppin’ me.” Lillith says,shoving an unlit cigarette into her mouth. Cayden playfully rolls his eyes at her.

“Honestly, with all that we’ve been through, you deserve it.” He chuckles, softly looking at hertired form. The other two silently nod in agreement and Lillith gives them a nod of thanks beforewalking to the fishing dock to finish her smoke break.

The rest of the Outlaws gather everything from the car to set up camp with Cayden almostdropping parts of the tent. It wasn’t long for them to set everything up and get a fire going. Lillithwatches the hazy soft glow from afar as she puffs on her last cigarette.

A familiar knot still resides in the deepest part of her gut, still giving her this sense of anxiety anda little bit of fear swimming around. Lillith’s mind screaming to her that something was going tohappen soon, on the merge of panic as the future is unclear. She hates this feeling. The feelingof primal fear infused with the kick of adrenaline, taking over all of your senses as you just clawyour way up to survive. She knows it all too well, and she wants to kill it.

With another drag of her cigarette, she blows the white smoke into the chilly air, her nicotineprovider now only a little stump between her fingers. She flicks it on the the ground beforeaggressively snuffing it out with the ball of her foot. Lillith turns away from the water and headsback to camp, her boots sinking into the sand. As she gets closer she sees Cayden wave excitedly to her, beckoning her to come eat.

She smiles softly to herself, her thoughts now muted by the promise of food and good company.Whatever this feeling is, she’s going to take care of it. Once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dùisg - Wake up.
> 
> Madainn mhath - Good Morning.


	3. Don't Fear The Witch, Baby

Early morning came once again along with the salty ocean breeze that surrounded the tent asthe four rustle themselves awake. Jessie was the first to get up, stretching his muscular arms ashe felt the blood rush to his calloused fingertips. He zips open the tent to let the sunlight seep in,which now gives them the view of the glistening and glossy water. Cayden hisses as the lightbeam hits his eyes and childishly claws at it. The girls, however, remain unfazed.

 

“Ready for today’s mission?” Jessie asks, mouth curling into a soft smile. Angela tiredly sighs,Cayden whines. Lillith remains unresponsive. He rolls his eyes and heads outside to take in theview. Angela gets up next, grabbing her glasses and organizing her neatly folded clothes at thefront of the tent. Cayden lays back down to go back to sleep - only to be stopped by Lillith asshe lifts him up by his tank top.

 

“Nuh uh, If I can’t go back to sleep, _you_ aren’t either.” She snaps, her gunmetal eyes scanningthe man child who now groans out of anguish. She rolls her eyes and lets him go as she headsoutside for her morning smoke.

 

Cayden, now slouching and mindlessly twirling his messy, bedridden hair turns to Angela, “IsJessie cooking breakfast today?” Her eyes glance over to him for a second before she sheds offher nightshirt.

 

“I believe we’re going to eat at the restaurant, Coctura might know some details about ourmission.” Hearing that, Cayden fist pumps in the air with child-like excitement. He scrambles toget his regular clothes on, flinging his tank top to the other side of the tent, which leads Angelato groan in disgust.

 

Outside of the tent, Jessie stands at the edge of the safe-haven with his toes curling, followingthe curve of the rock formation, jet black strands flow with the salty ocean breeze. Lillith sitsbeside him only an inch away, smoke lazily coming out of her naturally rosy lips. They bothshare a moment together as they look longingly into the distance, seeing nothing but theendless blue of the ocean.

 

It was a nice quiet moment - serene enough to not want to ruin it by talking. The energy thathangs around them was electric and bubbling, as if it was charging for something big. Withoutmoving his gaze, Jessie speaks first.

 

“You feel that?” His voice was smooth and low, very much amused and at peace with the scenearound him. Lillith scoffs and taps the butt of her cigarette, letting the ash fall off the side.

 

“You too huh?” The tone in her voice was hard to read, but with Jessie, he knows that she’sbothered by something.

He knows by the slight twitch of her fingers and her nose scrunching up for a split second.

 

Jessie knows Lillith is a creature of secrecy - not wanting to bother anyone with her problems asher belief was that it’s her own responsibility alone to carry her weight. She’s afraid of chasingthose she cares about away, so she bottles it up inside and carries on with her rough facade.

 

“I can tell you’re bothered by something.” He gently pushes on, trying to nudge her in the rightdirection. She huffs, smoke coming from her nostrils as she took another drag.

 

She hesitates for a moment before speaking, eyes still glued onto the shoreline. “There’sthis….feeling that keeps comin’ back. Like I’m anticipatin’ on somethin’ big. But, I don’t knowwhat and it’s gettin’ on me goddamn nerves. It’s knawin’ at me brain like a fuckin’ parasite and Ican’t shake it off. I’m pure scunnert right about now.” She holds on to her cigarette tighter, herinked knuckles whiten slightly.

 

Jessie can practically feel her anxiety lay in the pit of his stomach, the anticipation is eatingaway at him as well. He turns his head to her, seeing the petite woman hunch over the ledgewith anxiety swim in her gunmetal eyes. A soft smile makes his way onto his lips as he placedhis palm on her soft, ginger hair.

 

“We’ll figure it out, Lil.” He turns back to the tent, rocks poking at the edge of his bare heels.Lillith huffs again before flicking the end of her cigarette butt off the edge, the remaining smokedescends with a small trail.

 

“I’m gonna kill it and squash this shit like a bug.” She growls to herself, soon following behindhim.

 

When Jessie opens one of the flaps of the tent, he finds Cayden wearing his shirt inside outstruggling to get his pants on while Angela looks at him with extreme focus and apathy. Amoment of silence is shared between them.

 

Jessie hesitates, “..Do I want to know..?” Lillith looks over from his arm and raises a brow beforefinding her clothes next to Angela’s nightshirt (which was also neatly folded).

 

While she puts on the essentials on, Jessie tries to stuff Cayden in his pants as he squirms likea greased pig. Angela still looks on with apathy.

 

From what it seems, today seems like it’s going to be an...interesting one, to say the least.

 

When everything was settled and ready, the gang headed towards the restaurant with theirheels sluggishly trudging along the sand. Cayden being the only one bursting with energy,essentially excited to finally eat breakfast.

 

Trekking along the beach, the array of parked cars catches Jessie’s eye. Being a car fanatic, hecouldn’t help but to ogle at the models that sat in the hot morning sun. All of their hoodsgleamed in the sunlight reflecting different colors and decals. One car in particular seems tostrike his interest, as if it was something familiar. Something he’s seen before.

 

The vehicle’s sleek and elegant design ties in with the onyx coating that covered the entire body,it’s leather interior looks very well kept as it’s intricate stitching is in mint condition. Everythingabout it looked expensive, not to mention it’s unique model compared to the other ones in thelot.

 

The more he studies it, the more familiar it seems. Like he’s seen it long ago. His eyebrows knitin frustration, currently stopping himself in his tracks.

 

Cayden stops as well, looking at the car then returning to Jessie. “You ok big guy?” He softlyasks, worry evident in his voice. Jessie looks at Cayden, then back to the car before shaking hishead in attempt to rid his suspicion away.

 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it Cay.” He gives him a soft smile before catching up with the girls.Cayden smiles to himself, still not convinced with Jessie’s act, but ultimately lets it go in notwanting to ruin the moment. He jogs over to the rest of the group while eyes still glued on themysterious expensive car, wondering what caused Jessie’s reaction.

 

Unknowing to them, the owner of said car was on the other end of the docks making a deal witha rather sly journalist. The dark haired prince crossed his arms as he looks at the reporter, whois now known as Dino.

 

“What I’m sayin’ is, you take care of the problem outside of Galdin, get me some gemstones,and I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Dino prompts, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. The princeand his entourage stay quiet for a second, weighing in the options given to them. Noctis looksover to his adviser, Ignis for any suggestions. The taller, bespectacled man returned the focusedgaze and adjusts his glasses.

 

“From what little choice we have, I’d say take on what he’s pitching. Better to do that then haveour cover blown. ” He says calmly, reading the prince’s perplexed face.

 

“Besides, It wouldn’t hurt for you to work out once in awhile.” Gladio snorts, crossing his armssmugly. The small blonde next to him chuckles loudly, covering his mouth with his semi glovedhand.

 

“He’s gotcha there Noct.” Prompto prods. Noctis groans in annoyance and turns back to Dino,who’s also standing there looking smug.

 

“Alright, so what do you exactly need us to do outside of Galdin?” One of the prince’s browcocks to one side, both intrigued and focused. Dino shoves his hands in his pockets casually ashe leans his body on the railing.

“There’s an infestation goin’ around and many hunters are gettin’ killed because of the sheernumbers they’re in. They keep on coming back and no one knows where they’re comin’ from.That’s where I need you, Prince, to figure out how they keep comin’ back. That and gettin’ thegemstones too.” The four stay silent for a minute, wondering how they can take on a largeinfestation with just the four of them.

 

Before another word was said, Gladio catches a couple of figures in the corner of his eye. Oneof them being a giant, black haired man. The man captures his attention as he stares at themans’ back. A familiar feeling envelopes him as he continues to assess his figure.

 

“There’s only one person that’s taller than me.” Gladio mumbles, earning Prompto’s interest.

 

“T-Taller?!” He looks over, shocked at the mans’ sheer size. Next to the man was a very small,short haired, red headed woman. Her back covered with a tattoo that looks like some sort ofcastle. Ignis observes the size comparison of the two and adjusts his glasses once again.

 

“Either the man is incredibly tall, or the woman is just very, very short.”

 

“Or both.” Noctis quips, amused at the size comparison. Prompto continues to look at thewoman, completely enamored by her fiery red hair.

 

Dino chuckles, not even looking at the pair, knowing who the two are. “You don’t have to worryabout goin’ alone on the hunt, Prince, you see, The Outlaws are joinin’ in with ya.”

 

Noctis raises a brow. “The Outlaws?” Dino turns his head and nods to the odd pair talking toCoctura. All eyes are on them now.

 

Time seemed to go in slow motion as the pair turned around.

 

The woman had a dangerous look in her eyes. Her beauty seemingly heightened by the tattooslittering all around her fit body. Prompto flushes as he can see her breasts only be covered by amoss green bikini top as a cigarette slowly kindles in her gloved hand.

 

“That,” Dino prompts, “Is Lillith Malificum. The Green Witch of Lucis and the ultimate form of afemme fatale. She’ll chew you up and spit you back out.” Both Gladio and Prompto’s gaze lingera little longer than the rest, the gunslinger’s face in pure awe with a faint flush on his cheeks.Ignis give the taller one a steely glare before looking back at the pair. Next into view is the taller,black haired man, who Gladio immediately recognizes.

 

“That fine young man is Jessie Cain, the Iron Giant. Give him anything to work on and he’ll bedone with it ten minutes tops. The man’s a mechanical genius.” The reporter smirks as he seesGladio agreeing to everything he’s saying.

Ignis glances over to Dino, eyebrow cocked,”You seem to have a way of words, don’t you?” Heshrugs nonchalantly.

 

“I’m a reporter, it’s what I do.” Ignis nods to him before all eyes suddenly turn to another personwalking with the pair, someone Ignis recognizes well. The woman following the pair was elegantand stately looking, easily can be seen with aristocracy.

 

Her hair was silky and wavy, soft brown in color that easily contrasted the piercing blue of hereyes that hide beneath her spectacles. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Ignis, though, hewonders how she got that nasty scar on the bridge of her nose.

 

“That pretty dame is Angela Acosta, or lovingly known as Lady Sapphire according to the otherhunters. She’s probably the most poised woman I’ve ever seen. Hell, even when she fights it’slike she’s doin’ ballet.” Ignis immediately recognizes the name and looks up at her once again,making a mental note to make converse with her later.

 

Prompto looks at Angela with impressed amazement, “Wow, she looks so untouchable. Kindaintimidating if you ask me.” Noctis snorts and rolls his eyes.

 

“So you’re saying the woman who has tattoos, smokes, and can probably break your neck _isn’t_ _?_ ” He chides, looking over to his friend who’s currently blushing fiercely. Gladio chuckles,adding more insult to injury.

 

Ignis turned to Prompto with an amused smile,”It seems like you fancy her, Prompto.” Theblonde chokes and awkwardly fumbles his own words.

 

“F-Fancy her?! Haha, what makes you think that? It’s not like I-I’d be her type or anything!” Theprince cackles at his friend crashing and burning being caught with his little infatuation. Gladiohuffs with confidence, almost arrogantly as he looks down at him.

 

“Sorry Prompto, but she’d probably be more interested with a guy like me.” He looks so proud ofhimself stating it like it was a fact, even if Noctis groans and Ignis gives him another heatedglare. Before Prompto could protest, one last figure came speeding to the now three hunters.

 

Dino looks at the magenta haired man, smiling fondly at him, “Oh look who it is, the bubblegumprince himself Cay-“ just as about he was introduce him, the punk hunter trips on one of hisboot lances, shouting out ‘Ah, fuck’ and faceplants into the ground, resonating a big thud. “-den.Cayden Lynch.”

 

The rest of the hunters all turn to him in a moment of silence before Lillith and Jessie burst outin laughter, tears welling in both of their eyes. Angela looks at Cayden tiredly and deeply sighs,her fingers pinch on her temple.

 

When he gets up, a stream of blood flows down from his nose, making Coctura panic as shescrambles to find a first aid kit. Jessie and Lillith now loudly roar in laughter as they see thepetite chef freak out over Cayden, who was sitting where he fell with a dopey look on his face asblood pools on the hardwood floor.

 

The four stare at the group in awe, not believing what they’re seeing. These were the fierce anddangerous hunters Dino was hyping up?

 

Noctis scrunches his brow, looking to the reporter in disbelief.

 

“Are you sure these are the right people?” All eyes look at Dino with matching disbelief. Helaughs, leaning further into the rail. Confidence never leaves him.

 

“I’m sure as I’ll ever be. Believe me Prince, they might not look much now, but when you seethem fight, it's a whole different story,” He points his thumb to the hunters still tending to thebleeding Cayden, “They’re not your average hunters looking for a quick gil, they’re a specializedteam that takes on the most dangerous missions no normal hunter would even dare think ofdoing. Trust me when I say they’re the best of the best.”

 

All four are now piqued with interest as the journalist carried on with his spiel, the prince clearlyimpressed with his passionate stance.

 

“You seem to put a lot of trust in them for you to talk about them so highly.” Noctis states,crossing his arms casually. The rest nod in agreement, clearly shocked to see the reporter goon like that.

 

Dino shrugs his shoulders before combing his silver hair with his fingers, “Let’s just say I owethem a lot.” Out of the rest, Gladio nods, understanding what he means as he thinks about himand Jessie as kids. The man always did have a heart bigger than his body.

 

Ignis turns to Noctis with a focused look. “We might as well give them the benefit of the doubt. Ifthey’re anything like he says they are, they might be an important asset to our mission. Not tomention they could be useful allies as well.” The prince hums in agreement, his fingers tappingon his arm as he thought on how to approach them.

“When do you think we should, uh, ‘team up’ with them?” He asks, turning to Ignis withquestions swimming around in his mind. The bespectacled man looks over to the hunters, who arenow settled at a table nearby with menus in hand.

 

“Courtesy wise, I’d say after they've eaten.” Prompto hums in agreement.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be interrupted when I’m eating either.” Gladio grunts.

 

“That makes the two of us.”

 

In the restaurant, the Outlaws find their table and sit comfortably while they take a look at themenu. Cayden, now with a tissue up his nose, beamed with excitement as he browsed throughall of the options. He licks his lips, tasting the food already from just the smell that wafts throughthe air. He does a little dance in his seat before looking at Angela, who’s very focused stirringher coffee.

 

“So, did you get anything from Coctura before I, you know, fell?” His gaze still intense fromexcitement. Angela looks up at him slowly, her stirring becomes lazy.

“From what I’ve gathered, most of the activity is in the Fallgrove, presumably Costlemark.”Cayden loudly groans and slouches in his seat. Angela clears her throat before continuing,“Also, The prince and his entourage will be accompanying us, according to Coctura.” Lillithstiffens and Cayden stares at Angela with shock and surprise.

“The _prince_ is coming along?? Why didn’t Dave tell us before??” He practically screeched,cornflower blue eyes wide open. Lillith crosses her arms and huffs, sinking more into her chair.

“That’s what I’d like to know as well. How the _fuck_ can you leave something like that out?” Anger bubbles in her throat. Her gloved hands clenched together as her growing distaste shows on herface.

“Lower your voices,” Angela sternly warns, ”I’m sure he left that detail out for a reason,” Eyesshifting to Lillith, “All we need to do is focus on our mission and make sure the infestation isterminated permanently. Lives are at stake here.” Before anyone can say another word, thefood is brought in by a waiter, who’s clearly distressed in being such a tense atmosphere. Jessiekindly smiles to him, giving him a mental apology before they walk away almost frantically.

 

Lillith grumbles irritably, her pearly teeth visible as her lips form into a snarl, one of her chippedteeth peeks out. She abruptly, and aggressively gets up, earning worried looks from the boysand a stern, but gentle look from Angela.

 

“Where are you going?” The bespectacled woman prods. Lillith stops and turns to her, unlitcigarette rests between her gloved fingers, her face impatient.

 

“Gettin’ one last smoke before this _shitstorm_ happens.” She squints, her eyes filled with disgust thinking about the circumstance. Angela’s face softens as she sighs, knowing well what shemeant.

 

“Lillith-”

 

“I know how Lucians react to my kind, royals aren’t any different.” The redhead interrupts, hertongue laced with venom. Angela seems defeated when hearing her harsh tone and pointedwords, already acknowledging that she’s standing her ground as she always does. The puredisdain written all over her face says it all.

 

Cayden, now leaning back in his chair with his hands cradling his neck, perks up, trying to makelight of the situation.

 

“Oh come on Lil, We don’t know for sure what he’s like! We gotta at least give him some chanceright? It’d only be fair.” While Lillith appreciates him trying to lighten the subject, she irritablyrolls her eyes at the stupid grin he was giving her. Almost punchable to her standards.

 

She huffs, ready to retaliate his claims, but before she can utter a word to him, Cayden loads upa spoonful of oatmeal and flings it onto Lillith’s face. There was a long pregnant pause betweenthe four of them, both Angela and Jessie clenching their fists anxiously waiting for Lillith topounce on Cayden and knock him out.

 

But strangely, the witch stood there calmly before she reaches for the gravy boat, a challenginglook now spread all over her face.

“You’re gonna regret that.” She quips, before splashing the lukewarm gravy all over his face andclothes, earning a girly squeal from the man. Cayden immediately wipes off the thick gravy fromhis face, now looking back at Lillith with a relieved smile. He gets ready to load up as hereaches for the scrambled eggs.

 

“Oh it’s  _ on _ _._ ”

 

He swings the food in her direction aiming directly towards her face again. Unfortunately though,he misses as she crouches and rolls her body near an empty table and flipping it on it’s side touse as a barrier. Cayden huffs as he does the same with another nearby empty table, as hedoesn’t want Angela to lecture him later about breaking plates on top of starting a food fight.

 

The magenta haired man waves over Jessie to join him in the fight, which he easily complies,earning a betrayed look from Angela. And before any projectiles hit her face or her preciousspectacles, she quickly dashes over to the dock where Dino and the rest of the royal crew were,looking on impassively.

 

Seeing the taller woman come closer to them was a surprise for the prince and his crew, notknowing if she was going to speak to them or if she even _knew_ that they were coming along withher. But alas, she turns her back to them as she watches something from afar with anunreadable look.

 

Ignis quirks a brow before moving closer to Angela, thinking about how he should approach herand what to say when he does. Though, before he can reach out and talk to her, he witnessesthe rest of her crew in a food fight. His eyes widen seeing such a spectacle.

Noctis and the rest notice the utter shock that befalls of Ignis’s face as he too looks into thedistance. The prince quirks a brow, both slightly concerned and intrigued on what he’switnessing.

 

“Is there something wrong Ignis?” He calls out, moving across the dock with the last twofollowing behind him. They move hastily up the stairs to see the commotion, before Ignis couldanswer his question, the scene unfolds before them as they see the three remaining huntersthrow food at each other like little school kids.

 

“Noct, are you _seeing_ this?” Prompto laughs, clearly amused seeing such an odd sight occur right before him.

 

“Uh...yeah.” Noctis responds, clearly dumbfounded as his eyes get lost in the different kinds offoods being flown into the air. The blonde looks at him with a playful smirk, childishly nudginghis arm.

“Wanna join in?” He prompts, a devious glint dances in his best friends eyes. The prince turns tohim and snorts, returning the devious grin.

 

“Hell yeah!” Both of them high five as Ignis whips his head to them, clearly against the proposal.

 

“Noct-” It was too late however - he sees a flash of blue zoom past him as the prince warps hisway to join Cayden and Jessie. Feeling defeated, he looks over to see Prompto take a couplequick pictures before joining in on the fun himself.

 

What he didn’t expect though, was to hear Gladio chime in.

 

Count me in! I’m teamin’ up with the pretty lady.” He says, smirking over to Prompto, who nowwhines as he catches up to him.

 

“No fair! I called dibs first!” The two both pile up next to the petite woman as she calculates hernext move, slimy mashed potatoes in hand. She notices them jump in with her, now feeling alittle relief to have some sort of support while facing off now three opponents.

   


“Hope you don’t mind us joining in pretty lady, couldn’t let a girl like yourself be alone whilefending off these guys.” His voice smooth and suave, easily laying thick on the charm, much toher disinterest.

 

“Thanks.” She bluntly replies, earning a chuckle from the blonde as he sees Gladio physicallydeflate from the upfront rejection. The sound was pleasant to her ears.

 

“Names Gladio by the way. The scrawny blonde next to me is Prompto.”

 

“H-Hey!” Lilith snorts as she hears the smaller male stutter a little, she can easily tell that shepreferred him over the muscular womanizer next to her.

 

“Lillith.” She replies, eyes scanning for a head to pop up on the other side. “Make yourself usefuland grab whatever’s on the plate behind you. I’m gonna make this fucker pay.” A grin spreadsacross her face as she thinks about defeating Cayden in this little game of his.

Both of the boys freeze a little, in shock of hearing such harsh and crude language, especiallyfrom a woman like her. They also both took note of her thick, abrasive accent. Gladio grabs ahandful of now soggy bread as Prompto reaches for the almost burnt looking sausages besideit. Both had an eye on who to fire at and promptly tossed when the timing was right.

On the other side, Cayden nearly missed the potatoes thrown at him at rapid speed. Jessiechuckles before being pelted by soggy, syrup covered french toast, both Noctis and Caydenloudly laugh at the man’s misfortune while still ducking under the table. The gunslinger turns tothe prince with a playful smirk planted on his lips, which gives him the chills when staring intohis clear blue eyes.

“I didn’t know you’d be into food fights Your Highness.” He childishly prods, hands now full ofstrawberry jelly. Noctis returns the look as he also reaches for the sticky, sugary jelly.

“Well, there’s a lot of things people don’t know about me.” Noctis quips, smirking to Cayden whopromptly flushes a little. The man’s gotta admit, the prince has a million dollar smile. Food keepsflying and splattering onto every surface it lands on. Laughter and pleasant chatter fill the air asthe fight resumes, a light and airy feeling blankets around them, like it was their own little bubbleof paradise.

However this would all change when a stray glob of wet cornbread manages to hit Angela’sface, the food smearing all onto her glasses. There was a dead silence from everyone as theysee the poised woman slathered in wet cornbread. It didn’t matter who threw it, all that mattersright now is that there’s hell to pay.

Angela eerily calm, removes her glasses and wipes the wet food with a spare napkin that wastucked in her pocket. Once the food was removed, she puts them back on with pure murderetched on her face. Everyone collectively could feel their blood run cold. They fucked up. Bigtime.

Ignis turns to Angela with a small smile curling at his lips.

 

“Shall we?” He prompts, hand facing towards the anxious six who now watch with bugged outeyes. Slowly, Angela turns to Ignis, her face now relaxing more as she nods to him.

“Let’s.” As soon as she gave the queue, the two of them attack with a sense of mischief in theireyes, the two teams scramble to find cover and defend themselves. However, their efforts wouldbe all for naught as the bespectacled duo bombard them with different kinds of food at an almostinhuman speed.

 

Soon they pitifully surrender to the two as they stand there proud of their victory. Angela let outan uncharacteristic haughty huff seeing her teammates slathered in food goo. The momentwould soon change as Coctura approaches the gaggle of hunters with a smile that was sweetlysinister and that could only mean of bad intentions. Cayden gulps before turning to Lillith, feardancing in his eyes.

 

“Change it back.” She could tell his urgency as his voice quivers a little at the end. She raises abrow before turning to Coctura, who still flashed the deceptive smile that masked the unbridledrage underneath. Lillith sweats a little, unsettled by the aura surrounding the even temperedcook.

 

“Alright. Everyone, close your eyes.”

 

“But-”

 

“Just do it!” She snaps. As she closes her eyes, she envisions her surroundings and the peoplenear her. The more she concentrates, green specks of light emerge from the ground andsurround her body before spreading out to the scenery around her. A tingling sensation could befelt as the light passes through each member, their bodies feeling more lighter and more...dry.

 

The tingling stops soon after and everyone opens their eyes. As they adjust to the light, theycould see that everything was back to normal and in its’ proper place. Noctis and his crew opentheir mouths in awe, not believing what their seeing. As if what had all happened was just adream.

   


“Woah…” Prompto squeaks, looking around the room with child-like excitement. He looks downto find his clothes completely clean and not a speck of food to be seen.

“You can say that again. I always thought the ‘witch’ part was just her attitude.” Gladio retorts,earning an eye roll from Lillith and a piggish snort from Cayden. Lillith turns over to Cocturaagain, her disposition now changes to her original happy self again. She takes mental note tonever piss off Galdins’ cook ever again. Not if she wanted to live anyway.

 

Ignis, clearly impressed with the scenery around him, looks over to the prince, who's still dumblylooking at the place in awe.

 

“Shall we make preparations for the mission now, Noct?” The prince snaps out of his trance andlooks back at him, nodding in agreement. He gets up and looks for the small tattooed woman,who now is leaning on one of the rails with a lit cigarette in hand, lazily blowing the smoke outinto the open sea breeze. Noctis approaches her with a soft smile, her eyes still glued on thewaves in front of her, as if she was ignoring his presence.

 

“Hey, ah, Lillith, I just wanna...thank you for saving our asses over there. I know we would’vebeen in a lot more trouble if you weren’t there. Ignis would've probably chewed me out by nowhonestly. Uh- Ignis is the one with the glasses by the way.” He awkwardly rambles, feeling a littleanxious talking to such an intimidating woman.

 

She pauses, kindling cigarette held midway to her wine red lips as she turns to him, disgust andutter hatred reflect in her eyes as she gave him a steely stare. If looks could kill he’d be dead onthe floor right about now. They share a moment of tense silence, her eyes still murderous as herbody lies completely still, almost statuesque in a way. Noctis can _definitely_ feel that he isn’t liked by her. Not even in the slightest. But what did he do wrong to make her feel this way? Was itsomething he said?

   


After what feels like _hours_ of her staring into his soul, she leaves without uttering a single word.Not as much as a ‘you're welcome.’ He feels a pang of guilt in his stomach as he watches herleave. Why doesn’t she like him? What did he do wrong? All of these thoughts clouded his mind,blocking him from his surroundings and unable to detect the footsteps behind him.

 

He soon snaps back into reality as he feels a hand on his shoulder. He cranes his head over tosee Ignis flash him a focused look.

 

“Are you ready to make plans for the mission, Noct?” The prince still stunned by the soulcrushing stare-down, weakly nods to him.

 

“A-Ah yeah, I’m ready.” His voice was soft, almost wounded by the rejection of someone he justmet. The taller man picks up on this and his face softens, his gaze flashes a more gentleapproach.

“Don’t be discouraged by her rejection, I’m sure she’s just not good with communicating withothers, especially those with royal status. Sooner or later you’ll understand why she acts likethis.” His words were comforting to the young prince, as he can still feel the stinging look shelashed onto him. He hopes in the near future they can make amends.

“Come now, we’ve got a plan to make.” Ignis states, turning his heel to face towards the others,who were now hang out at the bar with a much happier Coctura. Noctis softly sighs and nods tohim before flashing him a relaxed smile, following behind the bespectacled man. Maybe one dayhe’ll be able to change her mind.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! If you like our edgy nerds so far, gives us a comment or message us on our tumblrs @pinechild.tumblr.com or @sashinia2000.tumblr.com. Suggestions are always welcome!


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